Imaging the Dynamics of Reactions of Chlorine Atoms with Methyl Halides

Primary vs. secondary H-atom abstraction in the Cl-atom reaction with n-pentane

Velocity map imaging (VMI) measurements and quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) calculations on a newly developed, global potential energy surface (PES) combine to reveal the detailed mechanisms of reaction of Cl atoms with n-pentane. Images of the HCl (v = 0, J = 1, 2 and 3) products of reaction at a mean collision energy of 33.5 kJ mol^-1 determine the centre-of-mass frame angular scattering and kinetic energy release distributions. The HCl products form with relative populations of J = 0-5 levels that fit to a rotational temperature of 138 ± 13 K. Product kinetic energy release distributions agree well with those derived from a previous VMI study of the pentyl radical co-product [Estillore et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 132, 164313], but the angular distributions show more pronounced forward scattering. The QCT calculations reproduce many of the experimental observations, and allow comparison of the site-specific dynamics of abstraction of primary and secondary H-atoms. They also quantify the relative reactivity towards Cl atoms of the three different H-atom environments in n-pentane.

Velocity map imaging of the dynamics of bimolecular chemical reactions

The experimental technique of velocity map imaging (VMI) enables measurements to be made of the dynamics of chemical reactions that are providing unprecedented insights about reactive scattering. This perspective article illustrates how VMI, in combination with crossed-molecular beam, dual-beam or photo-initiated (Photoloc) methods, can reveal correlated information on the vibrational quantum states populated in the two products of a reaction, and the angular scattering of products (the differential cross section) formed in specific rotational and vibrational levels. Reactions studied by VMI techniques are being extended to those of polyatomic molecules or radicals, and of molecular ions. Subtle quantum-mechanical effects in bimolecular reactions can provide distinct signatures in the velocity map images, and are exemplified here by non-adiabatic dynamics on coupled potential energy surfaces, and by experimental evidence for scattering resonances.

Recent advances in crossed-beam studies of bimolecular reactions

A critical overview of the recent progress in crossed-beam reactive scattering is presented. This review is not intended to be an exhaustive nor a comprehensive one, but rather a critical assessment of what we have been learning about bimolecular reaction dynamics using crossed molecular beams since year 2000. Particular emphasis is placed on the information content encoded in the product angular distribution-the trait of a typical molecular beam scattering experiment-and how the information can help in answering fundamental questions about chemical reactivity. We will start with simple reactions by highlighting a few benchmark three-atom reactions, and then move on progressively to the more complex chemical systems and with more sophisticated types of measurements. Understanding what cause the experimental observations is more than computationally simulating the results. The give and take between experiment and theory in unraveling the physical picture of the underlying dynamics is illustrated throughout this review.

Imaging the dynamics of gas phase reactions

Ion imaging methods are making ever greater impact on studies of gas phase molecular reaction dynamics. This article traces the evolution of the technique, highlights some of the more important breakthroughs with regards to improving image resolution and in image processing and analysis methods, and then proceeds to illustrate some of the many applications to which the technique is now being applied--most notably in studies of molecular photodissociation and of bimolecular reaction dynamics.

Stereodynamics of Chlorine Atom Reactions with Organic Molecules

A series of recent experimental and computational studies has explored how the dynamics of hydrogen abstraction from organic molecules are affected by the presence of functional groups in the molecule and by basic structural motifs such as strained ring systems. Comparisons drawn between reactions of Cl atoms with alkanes such as ethane, Cl + CH3CH3--> HCl + CH3CH2, which serve as benchmark systems, and with functionalized molecules such as alcohols, amines, and alkyl halides, Cl + CH3X --> HCl + CH2X (X = OH, NH2, halogen, etc.) expose a wealth of mechanistic detail. Although the scattering dynamics, as revealed from measured angular distributions of the velocities of the HCl with quantum-state resolution, show many similarities, much-enhanced rotational excitation of the HCl products is observed from reactions of the functionalized molecules. The degree of rotational excitation of the HCl correlates with the dipole moment of the CH2X radical and is thus attributed, at least in part, to post-transition-state dipole-dipole interactions between the separating, polar reaction products. This interpretation is supported by direct dynamics trajectories computed on-the-fly, and the HCl rotation is thus argued to serve as an in situ probe of the angular anisotropy of the reaction potential energy surface in the post-transition-state region. Comparisons between the dynamics of reactions of dimethyl ether and the three- and four-membered-ring compounds oxirane (c-C2H4O) and oxetane (c-C3H6O) raise questions about the role of reorientation of the reaction products on a time scale commensurate with their separation. The shapes and structures of polyatomic molecules are thus demonstrated to have important consequences for the stereodynamics of these direct abstraction reactions.